Please select your home edition
Edition
Sea Sure 2025

Flying Fifteen Northern Travellers Series at Burton Sailing Club

by Malcolm Hall 15 Jun 2022 20:06 BST 11-12 June 2022
Burton Flying Fifteen Open © Alex Hall

The high winds and desire for the trophy saw just the quickest of the quick take to the water here at Burton. The select band of local sailors and visitors were neck and neck throughout all of the five races. With only one discard to be had it went right to the wire, and the last leg of the last race was the decider as to who would take the trophy home.

The weather was warm and sunny, with a force 3 with gusts to 30 knots on the Saturday, testing all of the sailors and causing one retirement. Sunday was much calmer with sufficient wind speed to sail well and just get the boat on the cusp of a plane. The beat was square so as the boats tacked away you could never be sure who would come out on top and as the race courses used the whole of the water there were some really long kite legs to settle down into and enjoy.

In every race a different boat would reach the windward mark first, the places only opened out gradually so there was close racing throughout, any mistake costing dearly and a couple of close calls were to be seen where two boats wanted to be on the same piece of water.

I said it was the best of the best and consequently the sailing throughout the fleet was hotly fought, Pete Needham and David Bentley/Tim Wilkins FF2660, giving a very good account of themselves against FF3977 Grant pollard and Jessica Leek.

FF3563 from Blithfield with Martin Smith and Karen Beston were constantly in a tussle with FF3483 Adam Kenny and Ian Merrifield, swapping positions and finishes during and at the end of each race.

FF3519 Tim Bird and Chris Swallow lead the first race from beginning to end, they just couldn't be touched getting a handsome first win for Burton. FF4091 Notts County, Jeremy Arnold and John Allen were on a fast pace getting some good leads, with FF3768 Malcolm Hall and Martin Nelson also in contention. These three boats all sailed to their best, being variously hot on their heels. being chased by, then hot on their heels again, you could not keep count of the times the positions changed at the front.

The ending was a happy one for BSC, 40 years after the inaugural award of the trophy by Paul and Sue Amos, and 11 years since it last came 'home' the trophy was lifted by a Burton boat, FF3768 'Kitty Woo' crewed by Malcolm Hall and Martin Nelson and very much to the delight of their sponsors, dbd-lean.com.

Thank you to our 'visitors' for travelling and the whole army of BSC people who got the event up and running, special mention to our hosts 'The house committee' Sarah, Andy, Mari and Viki for a well organised admin and feeding routine. Also our race crew, Bill, Craig and Angie on the committee boat and Steve, Donald, Alex, Isobel, Will on the safety boats.

P.S. Also thanks to Phoebe and Amelia for inputting the results in Sailwave, no one wanted that job.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmCrewClubPYR1R2R3R4R5Pts
1st3768Malcom HallMartin NelsonBurton SC1021‑212115
2nd3519Tim BirdChris SwallowBurton SC10211‑41327
3rd4091Jeremy ArnoldJohn AllenNotts County SC1021‑3232310
4th3483Adam KenneyIan MerryfieldBurton SC1021‑5344516
5th3563Martin SmithKaren BestonBlithfield SC10214‑665419
6th2660Pete NeedhamDave Bentley/Tim WilkinsBurton SC1051‑7756624
7th3977Grant PollardJessica LeekBurton SC102165(DNS)7725

Related Articles

Flying Fifteen Southern Travellers at Middle Nene
The weather forecast of a lively weekend was spot-on A strong fleet of 16 boats (six visitors, ten local) arrived at the start line for the traditional Flying 15 Open Meeting at Middle Nene SC, which was held on 14th/15th June as part of the Southern Traveller Series. Posted on 18 Jun
Flying Fifteen Classic and Silver Championships
A weekend of close racing and camaraderie in the Peak District Classic and Silver division Flying Fifteens enjoyed a weekend of close racing and camaraderie in the glorious surroundings of this Peak District location. Posted on 11 Jun
Flying Fifteen Open at Aldeburgh
13 boats entered Aldeburgh's annual open meeting, including 4 visitors The open is one of three key events hosted every year, alongside our Spring Regatta and August Regatta, all of which welcome travellers for racing on this beautiful stretch of river. Posted on 11 Jun
Save the Date - Cowes Classics Regatta 2026
The dates now confirmed after a highly successful 2025 event As the curtain comes down on what has been a remarkable Cowes Classics Week 2025, thoughts at the Royal London Yacht Club and the Royal Thames Yacht Club turn towards the hosting of Cowes Classics Regatta 2026 with the dates now confirmed. Posted on 5 Jun
Cowes Classics Regatta 2025 overall
Building breeze and sea state create a spectacular conclusion Ahead of an oncoming, breeze-filled front from the west, the superb race management teams, under the watchful eye of Principal Race Officer Tim Hancock, elected to send all the fleets out early on the concluding day of Cowes Classics Regatta 2025. Posted on 1 Jun
Cowes Classics Regatta 2025 Day 2
Fog lifts on the Solent to reveal the front-runner A dense, wispy fog sat over the Solent this morning, hampering visibility and causing Cowes Classics Regatta Principal Race Officer, Tim Hancock, to call a short delay shoreside to let the sun burn through and leave a simply stunning day for all. Posted on 31 May
Cowes Classics Regatta 2025 Day 1
Perfect Solent Conditions The Solent shimmered and glistened under early summer sunshine and with a brisk building Force 3-4 westerly wind over tide initially before the turn mid-afternoon, the racing areas of Hill Head and Osborne Bay offered near-perfect conditions. Posted on 31 May
Poole Week Revitalised For 2025
New race teams and new courses for the summer's big event How do you make a great sailing week even better, without losing the elements that have always made it a great sailing week? Posted on 24 May
Enter now for Chichester Harbour Race Week
Last year nearly 600 competitors in 383 boats attended Book your place at the biggest dinghy and keelboat regatta in the UK! With the website open, you can now reserve your place in this year's 'must attend' event. Starting on Monday 11th August, ending on 15th. Posted on 24 May
Cowes Classics Regatta countdown is on
A week away, and late entries are coming in thick and fast across all divisions We are just one week away now from the start of the Royal London Yacht Club's flagship event - the Cowes Classics Regatta 2025 - and as ever, late entries are coming thick and fast across all the divisions. Posted on 23 May